no title

Crew Interested In Franz As Roster Takes Shape

By: Adam Jardy

The Columbus Dispatch - January 26, 2014 08:57 PM

The Crew has expressed interest in German defender Maik Franz, but the 32-year-old seems
unlikely to join the club.

Late this week, a report in German magazine Kicker quoted Franz as saying a deal with the Crew
would appeal to him but “in the end everything has to fit.” Yesterday afternoon, Crew coach and
sporting director Gregg Berhalter said that means finding common ground on a salary.

Berhalter confirmed that Franz fits that Crew’s wish list on the surface – a veteran European
player who would add depth to the team’s central defense – but, “The price tag doesn’t match,
though. Guys don’t understand necessarily the MLS market, so we’re trying to get him to understand
the reality of the situation.”

Franz is currently under contract with Hertha BSC until the summer of 2015. Sources have told
The Dispatch that as of Friday, it seems unlikely that the Crew would be able to come to terms with
Franz before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

“We’ve had contact with him, yeah, but it’s not much more than contact like we would have with
any other player,” Berhalter said. “And we’ve not had direct contact with him; it’s been through an
agent.”

The Crew will leave for Bradenton, Fla., tomorrow for the first part of its preseason training.
With essentially 29 players already signed and three unsigned draft picks, Berhalter said the team
will have no more than 34 players during the preseason.

The Crew is trying to bring Cornell center back Patrick Slogic to camp but his status was
uncertain as of yesterday afternoon.

“We have two senior roster spots open,” he said. “There’s going to be a battle for those spots.
We don’t need to add many players. There’s two spots potentially and that’s it. We’re going to be
careful and selective and we’re going to go after the right player.”

Berhalter confirmed that the Crew is not interested in Marco Pappa, who will return to the
league via the allocation process. In addition, defenders Danny O’Rourke and Gláuber, who ended the
season out of contract, will not return next season.

“I would say it doesn’t look like they’re going to be back in terms of the communication we’ve
had with them and their agents,” Berhalter said. “Again, this is something where these things aren’t
easy but we have two senior roster spots left. Where do we want to use them?”

The hope is to find another goal scorer and another central defender to fill out the roster.

“We’re working on it,” Berhalter said. “It’s not easy. The last couple of days before the
transfer window closes in Europe, players are waiting to see what happens. It’s not the easiest
thing but we’re working on it on a continual basis.

“We believe that our top group can get it done, but it would be nice to have some goal support.”&
amp; amp; amp; lt; /p>